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Artworks: The Signing of the Magna Carta

This large 20' x 20' triptych entitled "The Signing of the Magna Carta" is in the old courtroom on the second floor of Federal Hall. The mural depicts the scene of the signing of the Magna Carta in 1214, and has the description “Through this Document Government Exists According to Law not Power”. It was funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts and painted by Frederick Webb Ross in 1935.

Frederick Webb Ross was born in Shelbyville, Indiana, on March 19, 1885 and attended Shortridge High School in Indianapolis. After studying art under William Forsyth in Indianapolis, Ross traveled to New York City and its Art Students League. Starting in 1911 Ross toured Europe but in June 1934, he completed "The Signing of the Magna Carta" in his New York studio, which was then transported to Terre Haute,